The Enemy in Malaya


During the Japanese occupation of Malaya the Malayan Communist Party(MCP) was the only Malayan organisation(under the name Malayan Peoples Anti Japanese Army"MPAJA") to offer armed resistance to the invaders thus,when the Japanese were finally defeated,the MCP emerged from the jungle with considerable standing amongst the civilian population,particularly the Chinese and some Indians.However,for a better understanding of events leading up to the formation of the MPAJA it is necessary to go back to Singapore in December,1941 when a meeting was held between the British authorities and the Secretary General of the MCP. At this meeting it was agreed that the MCP would supply men to be trained and armed by the British for the purpose of operating behind the Japanese lines in Malaya under British direction. The first intake of fifteen Chinese to 101 Special Training School at Tanjong Balai, Singapore occurred on December 20th. and it was intended in the coming months to enlarge the facilities to cater for larger numbers of Chinese recruits.The fall of Singapore in February,1942 signalled the end of these plans,the British were no longer able to offer training,arms or direction and the MCP were left to their own devices which,in fact,were quite efficient and well advanced for they soon had the MPAJA operating as an organised force in Malaya,albeit not under British direction. In the wash-up of the collapse of Singapore a number of British service personnel ended up in the Malayan jungle (the most notable being F.Spencer Chapman* who had been C.O.of 101 S.T.S and a participant in the meeting with the MCP Seceratary General in December 1941) some of whom eventually joined up with the MPAJA.However the Communist distrust of "Imperialists" meant that the talents of these British personnel were never used against the Japanese to any extent,rather they were treated as unwelcome and embarrassing 'guests' who were to be denied any knowledge of MPAJA numbers,location and organisation.The MPAJA attitude changed slightly in early 1945 when Spencer Chapman and his party managed to establish radio contact with the Allied H.Q.in Ceylon and organise airdrops of arms and other supplies but,even so,at the end of hostilities,the Allies had only restricted knowledge of MPAJA numbers and organisation. What was known that in spite of gratuities offered not all arms supplied by airdrop were handed in.From the time of the Japanese surrender until 1948 the MCP was able,through various front organisations,to gain control of a number of labour unions but the MCP,as such,was never able to gain the status of a legal political party. In fact,due to the disruptive tactics of the Unions on the economy,the Government slowly became aware of the threat posed by the MCP although they did little,apart from making it illegal,to combat it. In hindsight,it may well be that this inactivity was part of an overall plan for we now know that at this time the head of the MCP was one Loi Tek who,after working for the French in Vietnam was passed on by them to the British in Singapore who ran him as their agent. Loi Tek disappeared in 1947 with all the Party funds and has never been heard of since. This abscondment left the Party without money and the higher echelon in disarray although the details of Loi Tek's treachery was kept from the rank and file,eventually Chin Peng,a young Malayan Chinese and long serving member of the MCP, was elected to the top position but with little money and rumblings from the Trade Unions about misuse of funds the Party was experiencing great difficulties. In May,1948 a meeting of the Politburo was held in the jungle near Raub in Pahang where Chin Peng unveiled his plan to change the Communist effort to obtain their objectives from a political to a military one based on armed groups operating from jungle bases supported by Chinese living in the wider community "Min Yeun"(unarmed Chinese who were responsible for collecting intelligence and organising food and funds for the Comrades in the jungle). This jungle force was to be named the Malayan Peoples Anti-British Army (MPABA) and the organisation of it must have been done well in advance of the Politburo meeting because the opening shots were fired less than a month later with the assasination of three British rubber planters in Perak. It was at this Politburo meeting that the rank and file were finally informed of Loi Tek's abscondment with the Party funds.
*"The Jungle is Neutral" published by Chatto & Windus 1949, Spencer Chapmans account of his time with the Communist guerillas 1942-45

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